By Bich Ta, English Language Program Graduate

My name is Bich Ta from Hanoi, Vietnam. I received a scholarship to study English virtually with the English Language Program at Chatham University in the Summer 2020 semester. I am now planning to do a Master’s Degree in Sustainability in Europe.

The 2020 Summer ELP semester at Chatham University truly expanded my horizon for many reasons. Firstly, I studied with two most enthusiastic teachers: Dr. Linh Phung and Prof. Sylvia Shipp.  They were excellent in pedagogical skills, and always supportive whenever I and my classmates needed help. Besides, I had a one-of-a-kind opportunity to make friends with people from different parts of the world namely Japan, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Saudi Arabia. During the semester, they were friendly and helpful to me. Even now, we still keep in touch to talk and study together.

In addition, every course in the summer semester was immensely intriguing and useful, which helped me lay a solid foundation for studying academic subjects of my upcoming Master’s course. To be more specific, not only did I gain a deeper insight into American culture, but I was also guided to make appealing presentations, analyze scientific research, and do group projects. One thing I am extremely grateful for is that we studied together about the science of happiness. We all know that the emergence of Covid-19 has changed our lives enormously. And it’s so thoughtful that our teachers gave us the opportunity to find out how to improve our well-being, and learnt the fallacies of the human mind.

Last but not least, the Office of International Affairs at Chatham University provided us with a wide range of activities outside classes like Let’s talk Friday, Conversation Partner Program, and Kahoot Games. I joined most of the activities, and that was why I felt more confident to communicate with others in English. I’d also like to share good news that I recently achieved an IELTS score of 7.0, an improvement from my previous score after the summer program with Chatham.

Looking back at the whole summer semester, I have no regrets to invest time in studying with Chatham since I learnt many things both for my English skills and social knowledge. If I have a chance, I would definitely love to visit Chatham University one day as I was impressed about the beauty of the green and sustainable Campuses.

I’m happy to make friends. So, if you want me to share more about my experience with Chatham, please feel free to connect me by email at Bich.Ta@Chatham.edu.